This invention relates generally to electrical terminals and more specifically to electrical terminals for use in lamp sockets for lamp bulbs which have a wedge base.
Lamp bulbs having a wedge base have been known and used for some time. The wedge base of these lamp bulbs include a central vent tube bounded by laterally extending side wings. The lamp filament is energized by a pair of contact wires which extend out of the respective ends of the side wings and are bent over onto sides of the respective side wings which are on opposite sides of the wedge base. The other sides of the side wings have laterally extending troughs which are used to retain the lamp bulb in the lamp socket.
A common problem associated with such lamp bulbs is that the contact wires are often skewed or bent out of shape during handling resulting in poor or improper electrical contact when the lamp bulbs are inserted into the lamp sockets.
Various proposals have been made in the past to accommodate these skewed contact wires such as the terminals having a wire guide and straightening rib which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,131 granted to Remie P. Durand on Feb. 3, 1976.
These past proposals also include lamp sockets having guide surfaces such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,972 granted to Willibald Kraus et al on Sept. 19, 1978; terminals having spring members for straightening the contact wires such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,390 granted to Masanobu Aizawa on Jan. 1, 1980; and terminals having redundant terminals as well as wire guides such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,615 granted Remie Durand on June 3, 1986 and the following related patents of Remie Durand - U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,901; U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,523; U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,524; U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,880 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,272.
In all of these prior art patents the approach has been to reposition the skewed contact wire on the side surface of the side wing so that the terminal contact or contacts engage the repositioned contact wire against the side surface of the side wing.